Grab your helmet, your 'tude and hold on tight. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. Power in Numbers In ATV: Quad Power Racing 2, Acclaim four-wheels off the straight and narrow and into an off-road wilderness of improbable tricks and hyperaggressive maneuvers. The 20 riders are split equally between real pros and fictional characters. World famous racers include Dana Creech, Kory Ellis and Tim Farr. The real stars of the game, though, are the ATV quads (four-wheel all-terrain vehicles, to you over-sophisticated urbanites). Although Acclaim has no manufacturer's licenses, each vehicle is uniquely rated for Top Speed, Acceleration, Handling, Air and Stability. ATV Tricky Responsive controls allow you to slide through corners, perform more than 20 different tricks and preload your suspension while racing for maximum jump distance. A handy display shows your preload amount so you can judge jump length for a smooth takeoff and landing. You can reel off two-wheeled balancing tricks right out of the starting gate. When you successfully perform tricks, you are awarded a speed boost. Deploying one gives a cool motion-blurring effect. A speed boost is best spent to clear an especially long gap or to pass a rival. To promote a little unfriendly competition, the game also rewards you for kicking rivals off their ATVs with your Z Button. Successfully dethroning another rider increases your boost meter. Races take place in five environments: Forest, Swamp, Dunes, Glacier and the Works, an urban construction zone. Each of the 15 tracks is dotted with huge jumps, tight turns and unique landscape details. You can practice your tricks in Freestyle mode's pair of arenas. Modes Rookies should start out at the ATV Academy. In Control Training, you learn the basics of handling your ATV. Trick Training schools you on bending the laws of physics. Once you have learned the finer points of ATV racing you can go for a spin on any unlocked track by choosing Single Race or Time Trial. In Single Race, aggressive opponents populate the course. The Time Trial pits you against the clock. To unlock more tracks, riders and vehicles, you must earn medals in Career and Arcade modes. These lengthy circuits challenge you to climb to the top rankings as a pro rider. In Challenge mode you are faced with two different types of skill tests, Ground and Tower. Ground challenges include timed slalom runs and more specific goals, like trying to ride a wheelie while going off a ramp. The Tower is a time-based challenge to ascend a steep obstacle course. You must traverse narrow bridges, steep slopes and tight turns without falling. Two players can compete head-to-head in multiplayer mode. There's nothing quite like shoving your best buddy into the nearest lake at 40 mph! Graphics Unique details add color to each environment. Log cabins line the mountain trails in the Forest and sailboats cruise the Dunes shorelines. You must also navigate thick mud in the Swamp and splash through the occasional puddle or river in all environments. A realistic touch comes from the authentic sponsor logos lining the tracks. The ATVs range from larger, more stable models to small and quick ones that are tougher to control. The riders sport different outfits to suit their personalities, but other than gender there is little variety to the body types. Bottom Line ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 features a fun physics engine and a smorgasbord of gameplay modes. High-flying tricks and a boost meter give this game a strongly arcade flavor.
